Refuelable cigarette lighters with timepieces have been in existence for many years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,476, issued to A. Peter et al. on Nov. 27, 1951, including a wind-up timepiece. The timepiece is movable in the lighter assembly for purposes of periodic winding and setting of the timepiece.
On Dec. 4, 1951, U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,679 was issued to Fraser. It shows a similar conbination wherein the actuator for the lighter ignition is also used to wind the timepiece.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 175,085, issued to Lowenthal on July 5, 1955, shows a cigarette lighter incorporating a removable timepiece at the bottom front portion of the lighter. The timepiece was probably removable to facilitate the refueling of the lighter although this is not explained.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,092,096 and 4,102,631, were issued to Goto on May 30, 1978 and July 25, 1978, respectively. The patents issued to Goto relate to solution of the noise problems inherent in an assembly which includes a battery operated electronic watch and an electonic ignition system for a gas fueled cigarette lighter, and to an integrated switching system for lighter ignition and watch control.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,140, issued to Ohue et al. on June 13, 1978, and Pat. No. 4,209,977, issued to Yoshinaga on July 1, 1980, show refuelable cigarette lighters which include a digital timepiece. However both timepieces are incorporated in the body of the lighter and not in the cap.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 256,237, issued to Vong on Aug. 5, 1980, claims to show a "Combined Radio, Watchcase and Lighter". It does not appear that this invention is intended to be disposable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,030, issued to Benedetti on Jan. 11, 1983, shows a combination counter and timer which is combined with a cigarette lighter for the purpose of counting and displaying the number of times the lighter is used and the elapsed time between the last two uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,799, issued to Matsukage on Sept. 6, 1988, shows a watch intended for mounting on a variety of different objects. Emphasis is placed on mounting the watch on articles of clothing, although other applications are also indicated. Although this patent does not combine the timepiece with a cigarette lighter, it did show-up in the patent search and I felt that it should be included in this application.
In recent years, disposable cigarette lighters have preempted a large portion of the market for cigarette lighters. These lighters are manufactured from very low cost elements and invariably utilize plastic cases which are injection molded. None of the parts of these lighters are replaceable; the lighter is intended for discard when the initial fuel supply is exhausted. The sale price to the consumer is extremely low to provide further incentive to discard the lighter upon exhaustion of the non-refillable fuel tank. It is questionable whether an integral timepiece could be provided at a low enough cost to economically warrant disposal of a lighter which included such a timepiece. It is believed that this is the reason why no such combination of timepiece and disposable lighters have appeared on the market. On the other hand, the earlier inventions described in the prior art indicate a long feld need for such a combination device.